University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Gophers Advance to NCAA Team Finals
4/20/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
FINAL RESULTS (PDF)
The No. 2 University of Minnesota Gophers finished second in the day one afternoon session of the NCAA Championships and advanced to the team finals for the third straight season.
"It's starting to feel like a bit of a habit so I'm liking the way it feels," head coach Mike Burns said on advancing. "We knew we were capable but you have to come and do it and we did."
Stanford took first with a 407.390 while Minnesota notched a 404.758 for second. Nebraska was the third team to make it to the team finals out of the afternoon session with a 402.690. Vitali Kan had a big day and had top scores on both floor and pommel horse. Yaroslav Pochinka had a monster vault and took home the top score of the afternoon.
FLOOR
Kan had a big afternoon starting with a 14.300 on floor which led all gymnasts in the afternoon session. Senior captain Joel Gagnon notched a 14.000 and Shane Wiskus scored a 13.833 as the Gophers opened with a 68.499 on floor.
POMMEL HORSE
The Gophers took a pair of falls on pommel horse but were again led by Kan who crushed a 13.733. Tristan Duran anchored with a 13.433.
RINGS
The Maroon and Gold put up a solid 67.065 on rings. Pochinka led the way with a 13.866 and Wiskus scored a 13.833. Those marks were good for the second and third highest of the afternoon.
VAULT
The Gophers went over 70 thanks in large part to an electric 14.966 from Pochinka.
Senior captain Alex Wittenberg recorded a 14.433. Minnesota moved from third to second after vault and never let up.
P-BARS
Minnesota hit on all five p-bars sets and scored an impressive 68.799. Timmy Kutyla scored a career high 13.900 and Justin Karstadt followed with a 14.166 for the second highest score of the afternoon.
HIGH BAR
Jalon Stephens led the way on high bar with a 13.833 and Duran closely followed with a 13.700. Duran also took third on the all-around with an 80.166.
UP NEXT
The Gophers will compete in tomorrow's team finals at 6 p.m. They will find out their other three opponents and event order after the day one evening session.
Make sure to follow Gopher men's gymnastics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date throughout the weekend!